Week in Review

Sunday, we all took a walk at the arboretum. The sugar maple was quite lovely that day,

but now most of the leaves are gone.
One the way home, Owen found some mushrooms growing on the ground that we couldn't identify


so we checked out a mushroom book at the library Tuesday.
Owen and I did leaf rubbings with some leaves that we collected on our walk and sent them to some special people.
I'm not sure what day, but he built a tower out of cans in the kitchen.
We have been working the whole week on a painting project for Christmas presents.
Wednesday we had our playgroup over to visit, and Thursday we finally went on a long-planned trip to Longwood gardens with Fin, Donna, Devon, and Melissa. The boys had fun running around the gardens with mommies in hot pursuit. It is next to impossible to get pictures of them these days; they're just too darned fast!We visited a couple of the big treehouses, and the guys were tired enough that we got a few shots of them resting a bit.

Friday and Saturday, we did a few Halloween things to end the week.

Thrifted Pirate Costume

Owen's Halloween costume was all home made this year.
We found a black wool skirt, a ruffly white t-shirt, and a pair of red and white stripped PJ pants at the Salvation Army on 1/2 off Wednesday a few weeks back. We spent a total of $5.

I took apart the black wool skirt and felted to make a hat based on this one.
I actually ended up making two hats. I made the first one right away and couldn't find it anywhere yesterday, so I spent nap time making another with the extra fabric! I hope the first one will still turn up. They can be used for play or for real, warm, winter hats.
I added a bit of lace to the ruffly shirt,

made an eye patch with a bit of the black felt and some elastic, and cut the bottoms of a pair of shorts that were wearing thin in the back.
Abram made a number of cardboard swords (until Owen agreed that one was right) and fashioned a hook from a coat hanger and an odd sock. Owen got to help with the process, and we all had a good time and spent just $5!

Happy Halloween!

Lancaster designated trick-or-treat time as 6-8 last night - October 30. I'm not sure why Halloween needed to be celebrated on a day other than the 31st, but Owen had fun anyway!
He enjoyed dressing up like a pirate,

and visiting some neighbors down the hall
before we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood to visit a few friends.
He walked a long way - about 1/2 a mile - before letting us carry him a bit.
We tried not to collect candy, but we did get a tad, so we swapped it for some GF brownies I made.
Today we went out to the Amish farms to get eggs and milk, and we picked up some pumpkins. Owen enjoyed helping carve it
and took a picture of it when we finished.

Flash Photography

The other day, Owen picked up the camera (you know, the one that hasn't flashed since we were in Italy - in June) and started banging it on the desk beside me. I asked him to stop and explained that it would break the camera to bang it on the wood like that. Then he asked, "Mama take a picture of me,"
and what do you think happened? Wonder of wonders, it flashed. Yup, it sure did. I didn't thank him for fixing it; I figured that could get a little confusing.

Here are a few recent shots with the flash:
eating home-made all natural blueberry jam from Jessie on crackers
preparing the mushroom growing kits from Anne and Grandaddy
leaving for a birthday party with a gift for his buddy Logan (I enjoyed making this crayon bag.)
and
playing with the wooden sail boat he painted at the party
and eating pizza made with oregano and basil from Jessie's garden sent all the way from Mobile, AL

Applications

Once again it is that time of the year when Abram spends many hours a week and a significant amount of money applying for jobs for the upcoming school year. This is the fourth year (in a row) that he has been on the market, and just as we do every year, we hope it will be his last. It costs time, money, and STRESS to look for a job year after year.
This year the job postings are few, and the locations are widespread. So far Abram has applied for 15 positions and plans to apply to 12 more. New lists come out twice a month so more positions may open up as time passes. If last year is any indicator, many position will also close before they are filled due to a lack of funding.
In July, Abram registered and payed for the APA (American Philological Association) placement service.
Before Abram started applying in September, he asked several professors from UVA and two colleagues here to write recommendations or update their old ones from last year. These are sent to Interfolio along with Abram's education transcripts. When Abram needs a letter of recommendation or a transcript sent to a college, he does this through Interfolio. This costs $6 for each position unless he needs it sent Priority Mail in which case, it costs $12. This allows his professors to send confidential letters of recommendation only once per year. He also prepared a teaching dossier with information about the courses he has taught and his student and professional evaluations.
For each position, Abram does some research about the college and the courses he would likely teach. He writes a cover letter highlighting his interest and skills of particular note to that college. He arranges the Interfolio delivery of the appropriate recommendations and transcripts. He may print a teaching dossier or need to prepare similar materials to send with the application. He makes a trip to the post office (or sends me and Owen).
Then the affirmative action post cards start arriving so that he can confidentially disclose that he is a white man - or chose not to disclose this disqualifying information.
The applications are set to be reviewed by early December, and colleges send request to the APA to have interviews with chosen candidates. Generally, the colleges also notify the candidates that they will have an interview at the APA conference - sometimes they don't.
The APA conference is the first week in January. This is a really crappy time for a conference, but, hey, at least Abram doesn't teach a modern language, the MLA (Modern Language Association) meets the week between Christmas and New Year. This year the APA will meet in Anaheim. In the last few years, it has met in San Diego, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Abram will go. He will probably not see Disneyland. He will hopefully have some interviews.
After the interviews at the conference, schools invite a few top applicants for campus interviews where they meet all the department members, other college faculty, possibly teach a class, and usually give a lecture on a special topic.
Then colleges rank their candidates and offer positions by late February or there'bouts.
This causes a shake-up in the filled/unfilled positions throughout the nation, and a round of temporary positions opens around late February/early March. If you are unlucky enough to have been left without a position for whatever reason - say you are a white man and there was a less qualified woman who filled a position you would otherwise have been more qualified for (just speaking hypothetically), then you will hopefully get phone interview(s) that will lead to campus interviews and a job in the second round by the end of the semester in late April or early May.
If you were lucky enough to land a tenure track position, you can excuse yourself from the next cycle that begins again in July. If not, hold on, 'cause it ain't over yet.
Below is a list of positions for which Abram has applied or will be applying. Special thanks to Abram for sharing his list and editing this post for accuracy!
Univ. of Miami Oct. 1
ICCS Oct. 5 (1 year)
Macalester Oct. 15
MTSU Oct. 26 (Early European Literature)
Kenyon Nov. 1 (2 year) DONE
University of SC Nov. 1
Brown University Nov. 1
Loyola, Chicago Nov. 1
College of Charleston Nov. 6
Trinity Nov. 13
Bryn Mawr Nov. 15
Amherst Nov. 15
Carleton Nov. 15
Case Western Nov. 15
Grinell Nov. 15
-----------------------------------
Santa Clara Nov. 15
U. of Southern Ca. Nov. 15
Xavier Nov. 16
Elon,NC Nov. 20 (3 year)
Baylor Nov. 25 (Lecturer)
Pitzer Nov. 30
U. of Richmond Dec. 1
Colby (2 year) Dec. 1
St. Joseph's Dec. 1
Georgetown College Dec. 1
Davidson (1 year) Dec. 1
Ripon Dec. 1 (Fellowship)

Clam Chowder

Earlier this week, Owen and I found wild-caught clams at the grocery store - 100 for $22.95. We got 25 of them and made a big pot of clam chowder. We actually used half goat's milk and half plain goat yoghurt instead of milk. It was yummy.

Clam Chowder
25 large clams
distilled vinegar
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup bacon, chopped
2 large potatoes, washed and diced
4 cups of milk
salt and pepper

Let clams sit covered in water with a few tablespoons of vinegar for about 15 minutes.
Prepare other ingredients.
Cook potatoes in a large pot in just enough water that they do not stick. Turn off when they are done.
Scrub and rinse clams. Steam them until shells open.
While clams cool enough to handle them, cook bacon in a frying pan. Add onion and cook until onion is tender and clear. Add onion and bacon to pot with potatoes.
Remove clams from shells and chop into small pieces. Add clam pieces and clam juice from steaming to the pot.
Bring to a boil.
Add milk and heat but DO NOT boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Wordsmith Wednesday: Our Best Thread Crochet

I know about a kagillion pregnant ladies right now. Traditionally, my gift to new babies has been a hand made blanket, so I have been rather busy lately. Since none of the said babies have actually made an appearance yet, I will refrain from sharing photos.
I often find patterns on the internet, but one of my favorite crochet books ever is Our Best Thread Crochet (Leisure Arts, 1996). I have been pleased with all of the projects I have done from it including a few baby blankets I have made recently.

I have also done several doilies (including a really lovely poinsettia doily that I gave one of you as a gift), snowflakes (lots of these were gifts to many of you one Christmas a few years ago), sachets, a number of edgings that have patterns written as multiples of a number so that you can make them any length you want, and angels (also a Christmas gift).
While there are a few patterns I will probably never attempt like the table cloth (which is just too big and not really my style) and a few frumpy things like fake bird cages (which are just strange to me), I have really gotten a lot of use out of this book. I find that sometimes I buy a book for one pattern or idea and never pick it up again after I finish that project, but this is one I look back at when I need inspiration and am rarely disappointed. If you are looking for a good general thread crochet reference, I highly recommend this one although I know I'm speaking to a rather narrow audience here.
I look forward to giving out the items I have been working on and will share pictures as soon as they have been sent out.

Cool Photographic Exhibit

Abram has fall break through tomorrow, and this weekend, we all hung out together.
Abram, Owen, and I went to the North Museum yesterday afternoon. We skipped the live animals and the cabinet museum (of preserved animals) and looked at a box of coral specimens in the children's room. We explored the Blood Suckers exhibit with real mosquito larvae and leeches, a tick that swells up when you sit next to it, a CO2 detector that measures you breath to explain how skeeters find you, slides of bed bugs and fleas, and a preserved vampire bat.
We revisited a cool exhibit of physics photographs that I mentioned a while back. Owen actually looked at them this time.
The photographs are from the American Association of Physics Teachers' High School Physics Photo Contest and show a variety of natural and contrived physical phenomena. Each photo is accompanied by a short description of the physics you are observing.
Do check out the website for this and past years' photos of note.
Here is one of my favorites, Brilliant Balloon
from John Wanberg in Colorado. This photo won an honorable mention in 2007.

Lilies in the Fall

It's getting REALLY cold here. Owen has been looking for snow, and I doubt we'll have to wait long for it. It may even snow a bit tonight.
This week, Owen came to tell me, "The plant fell down because it's winter." I was a little afraid to look for the pile of dirt I was going to get to clean up, but found that he meant that the lily plant was dying.
We talked about how the cold weather did make the plant die but that it would grow again next year.
We didn't discuss that I planted these lilies in Virginia after my two miscarriages, but just as it brings me pleasure to see those bright orange lilies around the beginning of June, it brought me pleasure to know that those lilies I dug up and have carted around the country are helping teach Owen about the natural world. For now it is sufficient to discuss the seasonal cycles of life and death, and one day we will be able to talk about how very much I wanted to be a mother and how very hard it was to experience those two losses and wonder if I would ever have a baby in my arms. We will discuss death as something that we can accept as a natural part of life.
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day was this week (October 15). I rarely discuss my miscarriages, but it is very comforting when I do. I think I'm not alone; I think most moms who have miscarried want desperately to talk about it, but other people are afraid to discuss it.
I'll leave you with a picture of my beautiful lilies blooming June 6, 2006 - my first due date.

Testing: Sniffing, A Scientific Approach

As any experienced parent knows, if your kid is quiet, you should probably look in on him. Today, the silence in the house told me I should do just that. I found Owen in the kitchen with a dozen spice jars pulled out and sniffing each and every one in turn. When I asked if I could help, he said no, he was smelling for the cinnamon.
I put a few dishes in the dishwasher.
He found the cinnamon,
and we put it on some frozen berries for him to enjoy.

Painting

With Owen, everything is a full-body experience. Painting is no exception. Here he is last week (when it was still warm) standing on his palate ready to do a few foot prints. He also did hand prints and painted with the brush on paper, on the porch, and on himself. We are amassing a stack of art that I plan to send out to fans.

Columbus Day Weekend

We enjoyed a visit from Mom, Dad, Micah, Allen, Karie, and Kailey this weekend. Saturday, we took the Alabama crew to the Central Market, the Quilt and Textile Museum (where we saw a display of Christmas items from the 19th century to the present and lots of Lancaster County Amish quilts), and the Heritage Center Museum.
Sunday, we all visited Gettysburg.
Monday, Abram had classes to teach and the rest of us visited a few Lancaster county towns - Intercourse, Bird In Hand, and Paradise and saw plenty of Amish farms. After lunch at Jakey's Amish Barbecue (and t-shirts for Allen and Micah) we checked out the Bargain Room at Goodwill and got a few good deals. While I got dinner ready, everyone else enjoyed a swim at Mom and Dad's hotel in a VERY warm pool. Kailey was very interested in my crocheting, and she learned to chain and made one about a foot long that night. She took some yarn and a hook along with her, and has plans to learn to build stitches onto her chain from her mama on their car trip.
Tuesday morning, a some of us went back to market to pick up some veggies for Mom and Dad to take back to AL. As we were unable to find an Intercourse, PA shirt for Micah the day before, we also got one of those (and a hat to boot!) while we were there. No 16 year old boy can go home without a t-shirt that says Intercourse. Mom, Dad, and Micah have arrived home safely, and Allen, Karie, and Kailey are headed toward Michigan to visit family while Allen is on leave.
Thank you all for coming!

Wordsmith Wednesday: Father Bear Comes Home

As you have probably noticed, we read a lot of children's books around here :o). Even before Owen, I read lots of them, but now we read more than ever. I especially love reading books to him that I also enjoyed as a child. Recently, he requested the mermaid book from the library. Upon further probing, I figured out that he wanted Father Bear Comes Home (Else Holmelund Minkarik). While we were at the library, we also got A Kiss For Little Bear, Little Bear's Visit, and Little Bear's Friend, and we already own Little Bear.
I remember having these read to me as a little girl and reading them independently a little later. I particularly liked Father Bear Comes Home because my Dad worked away on the ocean like Father Bear. Although I never thought he might bring home a mermaid like Little Bear hopes, we were all convinced at some point in childhood that our father was a pirate.

Father Bear Comes Home includes four loosely related chapters. Little Bear goes with Owl to catch a fish for Mother Bear to cook for dinner because Father Bear is away on the ocean; they pretend to get a few exotic catches before Mother Bear comes along to collect the real fish. When Little Bear's father is coming home, he hopes that Father Bear will bring back a mermaid; Hen, Duck, Cat, and Little Bear are all disappointed that Father Bear does not bring home a real mermaid. At home with his parents and friends, Little Bear gets hiccups, and everyone tries to cure him with folk ways - drinking water, patting his back, holding breath, and scaring him. Little Bear's family and Owl go on a picnic by the river, and he and Owl look for a real mermaid.

I like the simple story lines and Little Bear who is a curious, imaginative, sweet, and independent child. Owen loves to repeat the stories and to act them out. He likes for us to play Little Bear and Mother Bear. We both enjoy the illustrations which are done by Maurice Sendak, authour and illustrator of one of Where the Wild Things Are.

Arboretum

After a not-so-long nap, Owen was cranky this afternoon, so I got some beet soup started on the stove and we went over to the Tanger Arboretum for a bit to get some fresh air and a little sunshine. This is our second trip to look at the trees in the last couple of weeks. Owen has gotten interested in trees and likes to ask about them lately, so it's nice to have a free place close by to look at lots of different ones. It is a great place for Owen to walk on his own, and a different pace from the playground.
Tanger Arboretum is nearby on the grounds of the Lancaster Historical Society, and has been dubbed "the second finest arboretum in Lancaster County." While Lancaster County is well-known for its small farms and Amish population, as far as I know, it is not known for having fine arboreta, so I doubt the distinction of second finest is much to brag about. Still, it is perfect for a quick walk before dinner.
Before we even crossed the street to the arboretum, Owen pointed out the very large sugar maple.
We had looked at it before, and it is by far the largest and most prominent tree in yard. But I was still rather proud that he did it with no prompting from me. He likes to talk about making maple sugar from it, but alas it is not ours and we'd need a whole lot more of them.

He was very impressed (I was too) with the large scarlet oak that had been cut down recently. The stump was about 5 feet in diameter, and it didn't appear to be rotten or diseased. We're not sure why it was cut down.???
They have several young American Chestnuts that are bearing right now.
Owen can reliably identify crabapple trees when they are full of fruit. He is still not satisfied that they have nothing to do with crabs.